A Broken Heart
by RobbyA
Summary: An AU of "L is for Love" in which Luna finally gets the courage to speak to her crush, Sam. However, she realizes that sometimes dreams are meant to be broken.
1. Broken Dreams

Today was a great day for the Loud kids. What started as a misunderstanding quickly became much more. Yesterday, Lincoln had uncovered a love letter signed to a certain "L. Loud." As all of the siblings' names begin with the letter L, this only further complicated matters. As the day went on as they tried to get their crushes to notice them, another letter arrived in the mail, this time singling out the sisters who had brown hair. To make matters even more convoluted, it seemed as though the letters were directed towards Luna herself. Despite initially being nervous, her siblings convince her to go to the restaurant that night. While the letter turned out to have been for their father, this inspires the Loud kids to act on their feelings. With Luna as the last of the siblings to give out her love letter, she quickly sprinted behind some of the lockers. As if on cue, the rock star boy and his two friends walked past the lockers. After the blond girl bids her two friends farewell, she goes to open her locker. The love letter gently floats to the ground, thus confirming that this girl was Sam.

Luna walks home after school, casually humming a tune. Luna was pretty happy with herself; even though she was worried about what Sam's reaction would've been to the letter, she seemed to reciprocate what was written on it. As she walked down the street, Luna let her mind roam free. Thoughts of her beloved fluttered through her mind like butterfly wings. Luna lightly placed her hand on her heart, sighing whilst doing so. Every time she thought about Sam, her heart beats fast like a bass drum. Luna never felt so strongly for someone in her life. Not even her former attraction towards Hugh –Lincoln's tutor – could set her heart ablaze with such raw passion. Suddenly all of those sappy songs about love she had heard over the years made more sense to her. Luna was so delighted at what she had done; she was convinced that nothing could rob her of her good mood.

* * *

Luna arrives to the front yard of her humble abode. As she made her way to the door, she could hear her siblings buzzing about in regard to their crushes. A soft smile spreads across her face. She was really hopeful that their pursuits for love were fruitful. Luna places her right hand on the door, and she turns it clockwise. Her siblings stopped talking when they heard the small clicking of the door.

"Guys, Luna's home!" screamed Lincoln.

Luna shuts the door behind her when she was immediately bombarded by a family hug from her siblings. Even though she was slightly cramped in between, Luna laughs alongside her siblings. It took no time for her siblings to ask her a series of questions.

"So how did it go?" asked Lori.

"Are ya gonna bring her home?" inquired Leni.

"We always knew that you were pining for her" chuckles Luan "get it?"

* * *

What Luan said was true. Ever since she started to hang out with Sam, Luna would hardly last a couple of hours if she did not bring up Sam. However, when she first began to talk about her, her siblings were under the assumption that she was referring to a boy. Since she was hanging out with a young boy and his two friends, it seemed a given that she was heads over heels for that boy. When the reveal came that Luna was a bisexual, it created a slight disarray with them; it wasn't that they didn't notice some of the signs, but it's the fact that Luna deliberately kept her gender a secret that made their jaws drop in unison when Luna once pointed her out in the mall. Eventually, they slowly became supportive of their sister, and they gave her the encouragement she needed. After all, she was their sister, and they wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

* * *

"So, how did she respond to the letter?" said Lynn.

Luna beams a smile at Lynn. "I'm certain she digs me, dudes!"

The sisters all emitted a large squee that practically shook all of the windows in the house. Lincoln and Luna both systematically place their hands over their ears. While she was glad that they supported her, Luna clearly didn't want a repeat of what happened the last time they screamed this loudly. Their parents still had to pay for the damages that were done to the neighborhood.

"So when are you going to pour your heart out to her?" asked Lola.

"Hopefully soon, little sis," said Luna.

"Are you going to start dating her?" asked Lori. "I could arrange for a double date with you two, and Bobby and me."

Luna chuckled at this. "I don't want to rush things too soon."

"But what if she never knows that you sent her the letter?" asked Lincoln inquisitively.

Luna scratches her head. That's true; she didn't leave her initials on the letter when she wrote it, so how would Sam know that she had written it? Worse yet, what if she assumes that it was written by someone else. That would crush Luna if that were the likely scenario.

"You're right, Lincoln. What should I do?"

The sisters talked amongst themselves as to what could be done about this predicament. The further they argued with each other, the more outlandish their suggestions became.

"Maybe Luna could put some more letters in her locker" concluded Leni.

"No, that'd be overkill," groaned Lori.

"We should resort to the dark arts to ensure that Sam and Luna will be the only ones with eyes for each other" sighs Lucy.

"Doesn't that kind of rob her of her personal space?" asked Lynn.

"Besides, Mom and Dad both told you that you couldn't do any witchcraft anymore" added Lana.

"Sigh. Defeated again," bemoans Lucy.

Lisa stood up to speak next. "I propose that we make a spray that will make Luna be the only center of Sam's affections."

"That's worse than Lucy's idea!" yelled Lola. Lisa was obviously not amused.

"Oh, so you want to go princess?" Lisa said, clasping her fists.

"Oh, it is on nerd!" shouts Lola.

The two began to brawl. Lori rolls he eyes, and picks both of her younger sisters by the back of their shirts.

"Guys, let's be civil here."

"Yeah; we should go with my idea."

Lori laughs. "No, Leni, you're idea is literally terrible."

"Oh yeah," Leni fumed.

"Yes, of course, Leni, that idea was pretty dumb" added Lynn.

Leni's eyes were like daggers as she looked furiously at her younger sister. "Well, at least I didn't suggest that they both go to a ballgame."

Lynn's eyes grow to the size of kitchen plates. "What did you say?!"

Without much prompt, the sisters fought each other. Hair and loose teeth were flying as the dust quickly gathers to obscure the brutality. Luna and Lincoln both sighed in disbelief. Lincoln and Luna were about to pull their siblings off each other, when an idea struck Lincoln.

"So, Luna, you've been hanging out with Sam for long times haven't you?"

Luna nods her head. "Yup. Enough time to become wrapped up in her."

"What are some of your shared interests?"

Luna subconsciously drills her mind for an answer. "Well, we basically play together, for one."

Lincoln grinned. "So, you and Sam hang out with that rocker boy, correct?"

"Where are you going with this, Lincoln?"

"Well, if you two hang out with that boy a lot, why not tell Sam in secret when you're finished practicing?"

Luna's eyes widen in realization upon coming to this simple answer. "That's actually a pretty good idea. Thanks Lincoln."

She hugs Lincoln, and he returns it. Upon breaking up the hug, Lincoln whistles at his sisters, alerting them to this development. "Great news, we figured out what to do!" informed Lincoln. The sisters each weakly gave them a thumbs up.

"If there's any spare teeth lying around, they're mine," says Lola before losing consciousness.

* * *

Next morning was a Saturday morning. Luna sluggishly awakens from her deep slumber to hear buzzing. Luna yawns loudly, stretching her arms and back. She looks to side of her bed, and she sees that her phone was blaring. Luna rubs the sleepiness from her eyes, and looks closely at the number projected on her screen. "Oh, it's just Sam calling me." Luna lets her phone buzz until it ceased before returning to bed. A few short minutes go by when Luna suddenly jolts out of her bed. "Oh my god, it's Sam! I'm late!"

Luna quickly runs to the bathroom, and jumps into the bathtub. She turns the water on fully expecting hot water to erupt from the shower drain. Unfortunately for her, it was ice cold water. The water slowly slithered down Luna's back, chilling her spine simultaneously. It felt as though icicles were being stabbed deeply into her body.

"Cold, cold, cold!" shouts Luna. She turns the water of, and races to her room to get her duds. The family was sitting at the table, hearing all of the commotion happening upstairs. "Boy, Luna is totes freaking out about this," says Leni observantly.

Lori nods her head in agreement. "She's in love, dear sister. I know that feeling."

"Right, when you first met Bobby, you were so nervous, that you had forgotten to get out of your pajamas!" declares Luan. All of the siblings make a joke out of this whilst Lori's cheeks blush red.

Without a moment's hesitation, Luna runs to the kitchen wearing mix-matched clothes. Everyone looked at her strangely. Luna could feel the awkwardness of the situation. "I'm sorry, guys."

"No, that's fine. Don't beat yourself up." Lincoln says reassuringly.

"I just really like her, Lincoln. I want to make a good impression." Luna tilts her head down ashamed.

"Come on, Luna," says Lori "let's get you ready. Trust me, if she likes you back, she wouldn't want you to worry about this silly thing.

Luna relents, and she follows Lori upstairs.

* * *

Luna arrives to Sam's house a few minutes late. When Sam sees Luna walking up, she crosses her arms in disappointment. "What was taking you long?" she asked accusingly.

Luna rubs the back of her head anxiously. She couldn't think of what to say. Just seeing Sam again made her stumble on her words. "I-I'm sorry." Sam looks her over observantly, and smiles warmly. "Well, I'm glad you could make it. Come on, let's get started."

The practice went on a couple of hours, each hour being greater than the last. Luna and Sam played on their bass guitars while the other girl played on the drums, and the leader of the group was the singer. Luna continued to play fluently until she allowed her eyes to drift towards Sam. Sam waved her blonde hair back and forth in a rapid matter; beams of sweat slid down her forehead. Luna blushed heavily at the sight of her beloved rocking out. Thoughts about just laying a kiss on her lips crossed her mind several times, but she tried to suppress this until the very end of their practice.

Eventually, practice ended, and the leader of the band called it quits. He packs up his microphone and leaves alongside the other girl. This left Luna and Sam alone. Finally, she could break the ice. Sam gathered her bass guitar, and she gently placed it into its case. Luna watched her a few more times, having her thoughts conflict with each other. "Come on, Luna, you can do this," Luna says trying to reassure herself. Sam was about to leave when Luna spoke up at last.

"H-hey, great job out there, Sam."

Sam looks back at her, her grin spreading across her face. "Thanks, Luna. That means a lot."

Luna sighs deeply. "Okay, good, now I'll just have to..."

Sam interrupts her train of thought. "Oh, I had forgotten; yesterday, I received a love letter from my locker."

Luna gulps in fear. "You have?"

"Yeah; I really need to meet whoever wrote it to thank them properly."

Luna twiddles her thumbs nervously. "Hey, Sam."

Sam turned her glance to the rock star. "What is it?"

Sweat dripped from Luna's forehead. God, why did she have to be so nervous? "Do you have any plans for this evening?"

"Plans?"

Luna giggled in dread. "Well, there was this movie that I was aiming to see, a-and we could probably hang out after that..."

Sam raises her eyebrow in confusion. She didn't have a clue as to what Luna was trying to suggest, but then it hit her.

"Oh. Listen, Luna..."

Luna was shaking in fear.

"You're real cool and all, but I'm not into chicks."

Luna's heart shatters on impact upon hearing these words. After everything they had been through, it would seem only logical that they would get together. Luna had feared that Sam would reject her because of her preferences, but she held onto that hope that maybe she'd be proven wrong. But her greatest fear just became realized. Luna looks down at the floor in rejection. Sam lightly taps her shoulder, understanding the levity of the situation.

"I'm sorry, Luna," says Sam in a comforting tone "maybe we can just be friends."

Luna looks at her dejectedly. Luna was trying to put on a face of understanding, but it was only self-evident that she simply didn't want to break down in front of her crush.

"Sure, no big deal." Luna gives Sam a weak thumbs up, and Sam heads back into her house, leaving her alone. Luna couldn't believe what just happened; earlier that day, she mustered up enough courage to give Sam the love letter, but now her whole world was in shambles as Sam simply wasn't into her. Tears streak from Luna's face as she gathers her bass guitar, and walks out of Sam's garage. Luna looked up at Sam's bedroom, her eyes red from the tears. She then began her long walk back to the Loud house.

"Dude..."


	2. Rejection

"You're real cool and all, but I'm not into chicks."

Those painful words darted throughout Luna's mind in rampant succession. Before that point, everything was going swimmingly. After a prep talk from her siblings convinces her that Sam wasn't out of her league, Luna was inspired to go the extra mile by giving her crush a love letter. From there, it appeared that the feelings were mutual. Sure, Sam might not have known who the letter was from, but she was certain that she would confront her one day on her feelings. But alas, reality is a cruel mistress; Luna's greatest fear had been realized. Sam doesn't dig girls. She's heartbroken. The walk home from Sam's house was longer than earlier that morning. It would seem as though being rejected punched the wind out of her lungs, robbing her of her energy. Luna places her hand over her heart – which pulsated in anguish. The thoughts about Sam that once filled her with happiness were now stiffening poison to her. As she neared the front door of her house, one thought spiraled in her mind: "Why? Why wasn't this meant to be?"

The rest of the Loud kids were in the living room, watching television. Much like with Luna, each sibling distributed their love letter to their crushes, and were waiting for the results. Sure, their crushes may not feel the same way about them, but at the very least, it was worth trying. Right as the siblings were in the middle of watching their favorite show, the knob to the front door slowly turned, alerting the kids.

* * *

"Guys, Luna's back!" screamed Lola.

The rest of the siblings immediately stopped what they were doing, and they take a seat on the couch. The door creaks open, enough so that Luna could enter it. Once inside, Luna quietly closes the door behind her, dragging her feet whilst doing so. She had her head down to the floor, never once looking up to acknowledge them. Her siblings immediately take notice of this.

"So…Luna," began Lincoln in an attempt to lighten the mood "how did it go?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

The coldness in Luna's tone sent shivers down Lincoln's spine. Whatever happened between her and Sam must've been especially bad. Was there any need to further probe her from answers? Lori stood up, and walked over to the despondent girl, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"I take it that she didn't feel the same way?"

Luna looks up at her older sister with tear-stricken eyes. Luna wraps her hands around Lori, and cries into her chest. Lori sighs solemnly before rubbing her back. She had feared that this would happen, but she was more than willing to let go of her skepticism if everything paid off. Lori didn't want to discourage Luna's infatuation with that girl, but she felt that Luna needed to realize that not everything falls into place. Sure, she may be hurt now, but she will be able to get over Sam one day and start over. She was certain of it.

"Don't worry, Luna," began Lori "this was just a minor setback."

Luna shook her head. "But, sis, I just thought we had a special connection."

"I understand that losing your first crush is devastating, but you shouldn't feel bad about it," Lori said reassuringly.

Luna wiped a few tears from her eyes before speaking again. "No, you just don't understand how hard it is for me."

Luna broke her hug with Lori, and she began to run up the stairs. As she was running, Rita was walking by with a basket full of clothes. Because Luna wasn't seeing where she was going, she nearly collides with her mother.

"Luna?"

* * *

Luna wordlessly slams the door to her shared bedroom with Luan. Stunned, Rita gently places the clothes basket on the ground, and walks over to the bedroom door. From the other side of the door, Luna could be heard visibly crying. Rita grew worried from this. Earlier that day, Luna was so anxious about her band practice that day. Did something happen between her and her band mates? Now, any parent would respect their child's privacy, but as a mother, Rita grew even more concerned.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" inquired Rita.

After a few minutes of silence, Luna spoke back. "It's nothing, Mom."

Rita frowned. "You seemed pretty upset when you slammed that door."

"It's just a personal problem, Mom."

"Luna…did any of your band mates say something to hurt you?"

* * *

Luna fell silent again. If she were to lie any further, she would only make her mother's suspicions even more on-point. She didn't want to start any scene, but what should she do now? With much consideration, Luna solemnly walks over to the door, and opens it for her mother. The two locked eyes with each other. Rita gave a serious, but consoling glare. From the way she saw it, her daughter had been crying frequently to the point her mascara began to fall from around her eyes like big, ugly clumps. Without a word, Luna steps aside, allowing her mother to come in. Luna retreats into her bed, and wraps herself around the bed sheets. Used tissues were scattered throughout her bed.

"Tell me what happened, dear," said Rita.

"Well, I took my brother's advice, and I confronted Sam on my feelings."

"And I take it that it didn't work?"

Luna motions for another piece of tissue. Rita retrieves one from the spare tissue box, and she hands it to her. Luna blows her nose deeply into it, and casually tosses it onto the bed.

"She likes me, mom, but she doesn't like me _that_ way" explained Luna.

Rita shook her head in understanding. "Aw, the old it's not you it's me thing."

Luna leaned over in her bed, squeezing a pillow for comfort. "I don't understand; why does it have to be this way?"

"I don't know, dear. It's just…some people weren't born that way."

Luna frowns from the ambiguity of the answer. "It just seemed that everything was going so great; Sam was as big a fan of Mick Swagger as I was, we both had similar tastes in music, and we shared the same classrooms." Luna tightened her grip around her pillow. "And yet, because I'm a girl, I can't be with her."

Rita places her hands around Luna's shoulders. "Luna, I know that your first crush is hard to get over, but I assure you that things will get better."

Luna defiantly shakes her head. "No, Mom, you don't get it; no one had managed to make me feel so happy like Sam did. Not even that dude Lincoln brought home could top her."

Rita chuckled to herself. She remembered how Lincoln was having difficulties in school, so he hired a tutor, and how all of her daughters (sans Lily) were heads over heels about that man. Heck, even her husband appeared to be enamored with him. Of course, this wasn't the first time that Luna had displayed interest in a tutor or anything like that. All of the comments that she had made regarding that one time Ms. DiMartino presided over her class was enough to confirm her daughter's sexuality.

"Look, Luna, I know it's hard, but trust me, things will get better."

Luna looked up at her in curiosity. "How would you know?"

Rita shrugged. "Well, I had gone through a similar predicament you had."

"You have?"

"Oh yes. Years before I married your father, there was this boy that I shared a class with."

Luna propped herself on the bed.

"Much like Sam, he shared some of my interests, and we seemed to kick it off well."

"So what did you do?"

Rita frowned slightly. "Well, I confessed my feelings to him, but he already had a girlfriend."

"Oh, Mom, I am so sorry," Luna said regrettably. She had forced her mother to relive an old memory when she probably knew to leave well enough alone.

"But even though I failed to receive his affection, you know what I did?"

"What did you do, Mom?"

"I eventually got over him, and I began to develop an interest in one particular man."

Luna was silent. She remembered how her mother mentioned that she wrote love letters to her father. Seeing how that didn't really work out for her, she clearly did not want to hear that story again. What was once a story meant to inspire her was now an utter mockery. Rita sensed her hostility towards the story, and she ends it there. She places her hand on Luna's heart.

"I know that it hurts now, but I promise that you're heart will be rekindled."

Luna wanted to believe it. She desperately wanted to believe it. But after everything, Luna was iron clad in her belief that she couldn't love again. Even if she tried, there could potentially be more disappointment down the road. For her mother's sake, though, she'll meditate on those words.

"Okay, Mom, I believe you."

Rita smiled. "I'm glad you do. I have to get back to doing the chores, but talk to me when you're feeling upset again."

Luna nodded her head, and she hugs her mother. Rita hugs her back, and she resumes the housework. Luna was left alone to ponder her mother's words. How could she hope to love again if her heart was heavy with sorrow? Just hearing those painful words circulating in her mind troubled her heart.

"If I am to let go of Sam, something about me needs to change."


End file.
